<p>jmilton, I know that. I never said Michigan’s ranking in the USNWR is going to improve. I said its lower acceptance rate will make it more appealing to high school students.</p>
<p>But I agree that Michigan is not likely to improve its ranking significantly in the USNWR. As you point out, public universities must adhere to a certain standard of integrity when it comes to reporting data, especially faculty resources data. Furthermore, as you point out, public universities do not have resources to provide OOS students with as much money as private peers because their IS student population is attending at highly subsidized rates…at the expense of the university, not the state or the tax payer. For these reasons, public universities should not be expected to be competitive with private universities in the USNWR, which is why the USNWR rankings are completely meaningless. A public university is generally stronger than most private universities ranked 10-15 spots ahead of them.</p>